Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
Maryland Food Charter: A Roadmap to a Healthy and Sustainable Food System
Details the values, goals, and recommendations of food system stakeholders throughout Maryland and encourages coordination and collaboration for a healthy, equitable, economically and environmentally sustainable food system. Includes recommendations for the five major food system sectors: production and processing, distribution, access, consumption, and recovery.
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: The Institute for Public Health Innovation
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Details the values, goals, and recommendations of food system stakeholders throughout Maryland and encourages coordination and collaboration for a healthy, equitable, economically and environmentally sustainable food system. Includes recommendations for the five major food system sectors: production and processing, distribution, access, consumption, and recovery.
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: The Institute for Public Health Innovation
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Veterans Health Administration: Better Data and Evaluation Could Help Improve Physician Staffing, Recruitment, and Retention Strategies
Reviews the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) recruitment and retention strategies, specifically for VHA physicians working in the five areas identified as mission-critical: primary care, mental health, gastroenterology, orthopedic surgery, and emergency medicine. Presents information on how many VHA physicians provide care, the extent VHA measures physician workload and productivity, and how current recruitment and retention strategies are evaluated. Addresses rural shortages and makes recommendations for improving VHA workforce development and planning based on interviews with VHA officials and a review of VHA documentation.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Reviews the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) recruitment and retention strategies, specifically for VHA physicians working in the five areas identified as mission-critical: primary care, mental health, gastroenterology, orthopedic surgery, and emergency medicine. Presents information on how many VHA physicians provide care, the extent VHA measures physician workload and productivity, and how current recruitment and retention strategies are evaluated. Addresses rural shortages and makes recommendations for improving VHA workforce development and planning based on interviews with VHA officials and a review of VHA documentation.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Implementing Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Primary Care: Environmental Scan Volume 1
Details challenges and barriers to implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in a primary care setting, such as healthcare policy, workforce, and financing, among others. Includes 250 tools and resources to help overcome barriers and support implementation MAT in rural areas.
Additional links: Volume 2: Tools and Resources
Author(s): Garrett E. Moran, Caroline M. Snyder, Rebecca F. Noftsinger, Joshua K. Noda
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Details challenges and barriers to implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in a primary care setting, such as healthcare policy, workforce, and financing, among others. Includes 250 tools and resources to help overcome barriers and support implementation MAT in rural areas.
Additional links: Volume 2: Tools and Resources
Author(s): Garrett E. Moran, Caroline M. Snyder, Rebecca F. Noftsinger, Joshua K. Noda
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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The Federal Response to the Opioid Crisis
Presents the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hearing on the government's response on the opioid crisis. Includes testimonies from SAMHSA, CDC, NIH, and the FDA regarding current efforts to increase access to treatment for opioid addiction and promote preventative measures across the U.S.
Additional links: Written Testimony
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Presents the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hearing on the government's response on the opioid crisis. Includes testimonies from SAMHSA, CDC, NIH, and the FDA regarding current efforts to increase access to treatment for opioid addiction and promote preventative measures across the U.S.
Additional links: Written Testimony
Date: 10/2017
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Minnesota: Filling the Mental Health Pipeline
Discusses the mental health workforce in Minnesota including the educational pipeline, the licensed and unlicensed workforce, regional issues related to recruitment, and policy implications. Includes data about degrees completed, licenses gained after graduation, and population-to-provider ratios of the mental health workforce in Minnesota by rural or isolated, small town or small rural, micropolitan or large rural, and metropolitan.
Author(s): Alessia Leibert, Teri Fritsma
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
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Discusses the mental health workforce in Minnesota including the educational pipeline, the licensed and unlicensed workforce, regional issues related to recruitment, and policy implications. Includes data about degrees completed, licenses gained after graduation, and population-to-provider ratios of the mental health workforce in Minnesota by rural or isolated, small town or small rural, micropolitan or large rural, and metropolitan.
Author(s): Alessia Leibert, Teri Fritsma
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
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Physician Supply Key to Oklahoma's Health and Wealth: Recommendations for Physician Training, Recruitment, Retention Strategies
Provides an overview of the physician shortage in Oklahoma. Discusses its impacts on population health and the economy, issues contributing to the shortage, and difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians, particularly in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to help improve physician supply, including funding for rural training tracks, loan repayment programs, building data collection capacity, and identifying factors to help low-volume rural practices succeed.
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development, Healthcare Workforce Subcommittee
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Provides an overview of the physician shortage in Oklahoma. Discusses its impacts on population health and the economy, issues contributing to the shortage, and difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians, particularly in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to help improve physician supply, including funding for rural training tracks, loan repayment programs, building data collection capacity, and identifying factors to help low-volume rural practices succeed.
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development, Healthcare Workforce Subcommittee
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Medicare Inappropriately Paid Acute-Care Hospitals for Outpatient Services They Provided to Beneficiaries Who Were Inpatients of Other Facilities
Results of an audit to determine whether Medicare made payments appropriately to acute-care hospitals for outpatient services provided to other facilities' inpatients, from January 2013 through August 2016. Includes recommendations from the Office of Inspector General, and CMS's responses.
Additional links: Report in Brief
Author(s): Daniel R. Levinson
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Results of an audit to determine whether Medicare made payments appropriately to acute-care hospitals for outpatient services provided to other facilities' inpatients, from January 2013 through August 2016. Includes recommendations from the Office of Inspector General, and CMS's responses.
Additional links: Report in Brief
Author(s): Daniel R. Levinson
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Medicare Performance-Based Payment Adjustment Programs
Describes three Medicare Performance-Based Payment Adjustment programs for hospitals: the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP), the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBPP). Explains how these programs may affect rural hospitals.
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Describes three Medicare Performance-Based Payment Adjustment programs for hospitals: the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP), the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBPP). Explains how these programs may affect rural hospitals.
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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A Toolkit for Legislative Reform: Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Mental Illness in Rural States
Toolkit details methods to improve access to mental health treatment in rural communities through the criminal justice system. Presents options for state policy reform, using South Dakota's mental illness intervention law as a case study.
Author(s): Barbara A. Pierce
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Crime and Justice Institute
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Toolkit details methods to improve access to mental health treatment in rural communities through the criminal justice system. Presents options for state policy reform, using South Dakota's mental illness intervention law as a case study.
Author(s): Barbara A. Pierce
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Crime and Justice Institute
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Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure: Information on Identified Needs, Planning for Future Conditions, and Coordination of Project Funding
Reviews federal programs that provide funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects and describes how infrastructure needs are identified. Also details how federal agencies support states' efforts and the extent to which federal agencies coordinate funding initiatives. Analysis is based on a review of infrastructure projects in 6 states: Alaska, California, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Reviews federal programs that provide funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects and describes how infrastructure needs are identified. Also details how federal agencies support states' efforts and the extent to which federal agencies coordinate funding initiatives. Analysis is based on a review of infrastructure projects in 6 states: Alaska, California, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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